Next Suarez in Reds' sights
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/next-suarez-in-reds-sights Author: Paul Hassall
Damien Comolli has revealed that Liverpool are in talks to
develop a partnership that could see them recruit the next Luis Suarez.
The Reds secured the signature of their second Uruguayan last week when
Sebastian Coates put pen to paper on a long-term deal.
The negotiations further strengthened the club's links with Nacional and our
Director of Football admits we are now close to establishing a formal
relationship.
Comolli told Liverpoolfc.tv: "I've got to thank the people from Nacional, the
directors and their chairman, because they have been very helpful. They tried to
help the player (Coates) complete his will, which was to come here.
"They tried to find a solution for us to make it happen. We now have strong
links with them because both Luis Suarez and Sebastian Coates have come from
this club and been developed by their academy.
"We are talking about a partnership with them that we would like to create
over the next three, four or five years, to see if there is more talent coming
through. Maybe we can help them to develop their standards and in turn have the
ability to bring those young players here.
"
During the Copa America they had 14 players out of the 23 who had at some
point played at Nacional or were developed by Nacional. That is a fantastic
record for their academy.
"So it is very interesting for us. We already have a strong link with South
America through Lucas, Maxi and Luis.
"Since it's been such a success with Luis - and I'm sure it will be for
Sebastian - why don't we try to make it an even bigger success by bringing in
other players from Nacional?"
Sebastian Coates today revealed how Luis Suarez's love for Liverpool fans helped convince him to sign for the Reds.
The 20-year old Uruguay international put pen to paper on a long-term deal at Melwood on Tuesday evening after finalising his transfer from Nacional - and immediately hailed Suarez's contribution in securing his Anfield arrival.
"Luis told me a lot about Liverpool - but about the fans more than anything else," said Coates, in an exclusive interview with Liverpoolfc.tv. "He told me how passionate they are about the club and how supportive they are.
"I saw that myself on Saturday when the fans really got behind their side against Bolton and that was great to see.
"Luis also told me about the history and the tradition of the club and now I feel very happy and excited to be here because I have left one great club in Nacional and signed for another great club with a fantastic history.
"To come to such a big club alongside a fellow countryman is very important for me. I know Luis will help me settle in, we have the same cultures and customs so having him around will help me a lot."
Coates and Suarez celebrated success on the international stage in the summer as Uruguay landed the Copa America - with our latest signing being named the Young Player of the tournament in Argentina.
Having tasted success with his country, he's now setting his sights on helping Liverpool land silverware over the coming years.
"You always want to win everything as a player but in my case I know I have to take things step by step," he added. "I have to train hard ad be ready to get out onto the field and play.
"I want to win as much as I can in a Liverpool shirt and that means the league title and any cup competitions we take part in. We have to set our sights high."
Coates has already experienced the Anfield atmosphere after watching the weekend victory over Bolton from the Director's Box - but he's hoping to spend more time on the pitch than in the stands in the future.
"Even though I hadn't signed I still wanted to get out there and play," he said. "From the moment I sat in the stand I wanted to be out on the pitch.
"I know that when I do get the chance to play I have to perform to the best of my ability. I'm really happy to be here. When I arrived at the stadium on Saturday I was treated very well by everybody and I hope to repay all those good wishes in the future."
Sebastian Coates today revealed how Luis Suarez's love for Liverpool fans helped convince him to sign for the Reds.
The 20-year old Uruguay international put pen to paper on a long-term deal at Melwood on Tuesday evening after finalising his transfer from Nacional - and immediately hailed Suarez's contribution in securing his Anfield arrival.
"Luis told me a lot about Liverpool - but about the fans more than anything else," said Coates, in an exclusive interview with Liverpoolfc.tv. "He told me how passionate they are about the club and how supportive they are.
"I saw that myself on Saturday when the fans really got behind their side against Bolton and that was great to see.
"Luis also told me about the history and the tradition of the club and now I feel very happy and excited to be here because I have left one great club in Nacional and signed for another great club with a fantastic history.
"To come to such a big club alongside a fellow countryman is very important for me. I know Luis will help me settle in, we have the same cultures and customs so having him around will help me a lot."
Coates and Suarez celebrated success on the international stage in the summer as Uruguay landed the Copa America - with our latest signing being named the Young Player of the tournament in Argentina.
Having tasted success with his country, he's now setting his sights on helping Liverpool land silverware over the coming years.
"You always want to win everything as a player but in my case I know I have to take things step by step," he added. "I have to train hard ad be ready to get out onto the field and play.
"I want to win as much as I can in a Liverpool shirt and that means the league title and any cup competitions we take part in. We have to set our sights high."
Coates has already experienced the Anfield atmosphere after watching the weekend victory over Bolton from the Director's Box - but he's hoping to spend more time on the pitch than in the stands in the future.
"Even though I hadn't signed I still wanted to get out there and play," he said. "From the moment I sat in the stand I wanted to be out on the pitch.
"I know that when I do get the chance to play I have to perform to the best of my ability. I'm really happy to be here. When I arrived at the stadium on Saturday I was treated very well by everybody and I hope to repay all those good wishes in the future."
Liverpool 3 Bolton Wanderers 1: Uruguayan's trickery helps lift resurgent Reds to best start in 17 years
By Simon Hart at Anfield
Sunday, 28 August 2011
On the day that Liverpool's owner, John W Henry, defended his club's expensive summer outlay on British talent in a newspaper interview, Kenny Dalglish's team added their own eloquent argument.
This 3-1 success featured first Anfield goals for two of those newcomers, Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam, sandwiching a Martin Skrtel header, and moreover, ensured that the Merseyside club ended the day on top of the table, ahead of Chelsea and Wolves on goal difference.
When Liverpool beat Bolton on New Year's Day there were only 35,400 fans at Anfield for a 2-1 win secured by an injury-time Joe Cole goal in the last home game of Roy Hodgson's unhappy reign. This was another victory but the manner and the mood could not have been more different as Liverpool's passing and movement left Bolton chasing shadows for much of the 90 minutes. With it Liverpool – with seven points from a possible nine – have achieved their best start since winning three in a row in 1994-95. That year they ended up fourth; a repeat would be welcome after two seasons without Champions' League football, though this flying start will have some Anfield optimists dreaming of more. Dalglish, though, merely observed: "It's better than being bottom."
Liverpool had not lost a home League game to Bolton since 1954 and that record never looked under threat. Even the visitors' first corner almost produced a Liverpool goal as Stewart Downing raced clear on a counter only to be foiled by Paul Robinson's block.
It was Luis Suarez who proved the biggest thorn in Bolton's side. Writing in yesterday's Liverpool Echo, former Anfield favourite Tommy Smith likened him to Kevin Keegan for his exceptional movement though it was a more recent Kop hero, Robbie Fowler, whom the Uruguayan was looking to emulate by becoming the first Liverpool player since the Toxteth tearaway in 1994 to score in his opening three League games.
He did not manage that but from the start Suarez asked questions with that movement – not to mention his eye for a pass and trickery in tight spaces – and it was after drifting out wide that he helped create the opening goal. From the left flank Suarez played a lovely ball with the outside of his right boot into the path of Downing in the Bolton box and although Jussi Jaaskelainen was equal to his volley, Bolton's reprieve was brief. Dirk Kuyt turned the loose ball back to Henderson and after his first shot was blocked, he duly arced a left-foot shot into the far corner.
Suarez missed a golden chance to double the lead after 24 minutes when lobbing on to the roof of the net after being put clear by Henderson. Then another move begun on the left by the South American ended with Kuyt firing over. Both managers were forced into early substitutions but it had no effect on the flow of traffic.
Suarez was unfortunate not to earn a penalty at the start of the second half as he tumbled in the box under a Zat Knight challenge – the defender using a hand to stop him as he threatened to wriggle clear – but as it was, Liverpool secured the points with two goals in a minute soon after.
"We shot ourselves in the foot," was Owen Coyle's verdict on Bolton's defending for both. Skrtel got ahead of Knight to power in a header from Adam's corner, then the Scottish midfielder got the third himself after holding off a Nigel Reo-Coker challenge before drilling a low shot through the legs of Knight and beyond Jaaskelainen from the edge of the box. Adam, like Henderson, is now up and running in a red shirt.
Yet Dalglish was quick to praise two players not on the scoresheet. "It is always nice to score your first goal but Stewart Downing never scored and was brilliant and Luis Suarez was man of the match."
Pepe Reina had made only one first-half save from a Martin Petrov volley when he was beaten by Ivan Klasnic's consolation strike in the last minute, a close-range finish after Jamie Carragher had inadvertently teed him up when halting Petrov's advance. The Croatian, not Suarez, has a goal from each of his three League outings but it is the Uruguayan's Liverpool sitting pretty this morning.
Liverpool (4-4-2): Reina; Kelly (Skrtel, 30), Carragher, Agger, Enrique; Henderson (Rodriguez, 76), Lucas, Adam, Downing; Kuyt, Suarez (Carroll, 76).
80 min: GOAL!!! Exeter City 1-3 Liverpool. Nardiello, a former Manchester United player, gets up and hammers the ball straight down the middle and into the net. St James Park erupts in joy.
79 min: PENALTY TO EXETER!!! The sprightly Nichols is in the middle of a quick break upfield. He slides the ball to Nardiello, who enters the area and falls over the leg of the galoot Skrtel. That's a no brainer for the referee, who points to the spot.
77 min: A couple of changes: Adam departs for Shelvey, while Coles is replaced by the 17-year-old Nichols. Meantime, here's relationship counsellor Anthony Clifford: "Following on from Joshua's analogy though, that rich southern bloke now has to put up with your moody ex while you're with the hottest bird in town. Again. So that's obviously a win, right?"
74 min: A real lull at the moment. You get the sense that if everyone could agree to pack up and go home now, they would. "Aaaargh! I typoed Dalglish," cries Phil Sawyer, of his 63rd-minute entry. "Now I'm going to be exiled from supporting Liverpool. At least I'll now be able to fulfil my father's lifelong dream and become a Southport supporter instead."
71 min: Downing twists and turns down the right and does what he should have done minutes earlier: has a dig at goal. It's a great effort too, arrowing in at the near post before Krysiak parries brilliantly out for a corner. The set piece, this being Liverpool 1980-2011, is wasted.
69 min: Downing is in acres down the right. Instead of stepping into the box and taking a whack at goal, which he surely must, he opts to Gerrard a pass to the other wing for Carroll, who is miles offside. As the ball flies 20 feet over his head, Carroll can be clearly spotted mouthing "That is fucking shit". Overpriced at £35m, perhaps, but what a critic.
66 min: McNish is straight into the action, sending a low shot goalwards from 20 yards. Reina is down well to claim, because that was heading into the bottom-left corner. The effort momentarily wakes the crowd, who are otherwise in a minor funk.
65 min: Shepherd is replaced by McNish.
63 min: Henderson tries to Le Tissier a volley into the top right corner, flicking the ball up on the edge of the D and taking a lazy slash at the ball. But the effort flies miles over the bar. "That Henderson incident was indeed peculiar," writes Phil Sawyer. "I've also noticed that the only Liverpool player to roll around in agony after a challenge was Meireles, who was genuinely injured. If Daglish has adopted a no diving, no whinging policy, Gerrard's going to find it awfully difficult to get a game."
62 min: That two-goal burst has taken the sting out of this game. Exeter look visibly deflated. Downing and Henderson combine down the right, but they can't find Carroll in the middle. "Parents claimed the naïve innocence, didn't-realise-till-it-was-too-late excuse," begins Michael Hunt's lament. "Forgiveness is still pending."
60 min: Suarez, with a goal and two assists to his name, is done for the day. He trots off to be replaced by Downing. "You're right about Suarez, of course, he is tough," admits Joshua Collis. "But I'm still haunted by Torres, who was like a beautiful girlfriend who during the course of your relationship develops crippling migraines. When she first came along, she was lovely, everything was great. Filled you with joy and optimism. But then before you know it, the migraines kicked in, and she never came out any more, wasn't much fun, and eventually she dumped you for some rich southern chap. And although you've got over her now, the same irrational fear holds for your new girlfriend." An honest and emotionally brave account of a failed romance, Joshua. There are some Liverpool fans who still can't bring themselves to whisper his name.
58 min: GOAL!!! Exeter City 0-3 Liverpool. A twist in the centre circle from Suarez, who rushes away from Archibald-Henville and lays the ball off to Carroll, on the edge of the D. The ball breaks kindly to him after an Exeter challenge, and he immediately lashes an unstoppable skelp into the right-hand side of the net. Krysiak had no chance
55 min: GOAL!!! Exeter City 0-2 Liverpool. Suarez is set clear down the right and into the area. Instead of shooting, he unselfishly looks for Carroll in the middle. His low pass is cut out, but it pings back to Suarez, who immediately rolls another ball into the middle for Maxi, the Argentinian rushing in and sidefooting calmly home.
51 min: A beautiful turn by Henderson down the right, and the Liverpool man bursts into the area. He goes over the leg of Coles. He's gone looking for it, over a leg that's been foolishly left hanging out, and the referee decides it's a dive and books him. No complaints whatsoever from Henderson. All very strange, really, because you'll have seen plenty of penalties given for less than that, and it wasn't a particularly shameless dive. But everyone's happy enough, and we move on.
49 min: Suarez catches Shepherd late, the Exeter man requiring a couple of minutes worth of treatment as a result. There was no malice; Suarez looks genuinely apologetic and concerned. Happily, Shepherd can continue. "With the tenuous exception of Terry Henry, has there ever been an exciting foreign player with a less exciting-foreign-player name than current Liverpool target Seb Coates?" wonders nomenclature expert Michael Hunt. Seeing we're on the subject, you've a fairly interesting monicker of your own, there, Mike.
And we're off again! Liverpool set the ball rolling for the second period. And what a start to the half by Exeter! Dunne sends a pinpoint long ball down the inside-right channel for Nardiello, who scoots clear of Skrtel and chips the ball over the advancing Reina! Unfortunately for Exeter, the effort bounces wide left of the open goal, and would have been caught by both Skrtel and Wilson were it on target anyway. But still. That's got the crowd going right at the start of the second period
HALF TIME: Exeter City 0-1 Liverpool. And that's that for the half. Liverpool deserve their lead, but only just: the home team have been sprightly and determined, and clever enough to carve out a couple of half-chances. Not quite half-chances, maybe. Quarter chances? I don't know. Anyway, we're set up for a good second half. Raul Meireles, incidentally, dislocated his shoulder, but it popped back into the socket on the pitch. They're debating whether to take him to the hospital, or simply not bother until they get back home.
Added time at the end of the first half: Suarez attempts to chip the ball over Krysiak from ten yards out, just to the right of goal. Very ambitious, and slightly cheeky, bordering on rude. Up the other end, Shepherd welts one miles over the bar from 30-plus yards.
45 min: Dunne so nearly breaks free into the box as Shepherd rolls a ball into space between the dozy Skrtel and Wilson, who have left a huge gap between them. Luckily for Liverpool, Reina is out quick to claim.
44 min: A poor show by Dunne, who is robbed by a determined Suarez. Dunne bundles his man over then picks up the ball and pushes it lightly into Suarez's face. There's no anger in it, just petulance.
43 min: Exeter boss Paul Tisdale is wearing the sort of flat cap that would see him followed around Shoreditch by a gang of admirers. "When you said my set-up line was the most convoluted in the history of All Amusement, you neglected to point out that it was for the weakest pay-off line in All Amusement," blasts Phil Sawyer. "Come on, Scott, credit where credit's due, eh?"
42 min: It is now tipping down at Exeter.
40 min: Carroll forces a corner down the left. It's nothing to write home about, so I won't. "Is there a curse at Liverpool when it comes to corners?" asks Bryan Tisinger. "Adam was supposed to be the answer to Liverpool's dreadful corner kick-takers (and free kicks) of the past few years, but he was awful against Arsenal this past weekend (he wasn't taking them by the second half when Meireles came on). From your reporting, it sounds like he isn't doing much better. So it must be the curse of Liverpool, eh?" Put it this way: there was a Liverpool fanzine back in the day called Another Wasted Corner. This is when Liverpool were still regularly winning everything. This has been going on for at least 30 years.
36 min: Carroll often gets pelters for being a Big Man Without A Good Touch, but here he shows glimpses of his twinkle toes. First he heads a long ball down into space for Suarez, then exchanges a couple of one-twos with him, eventually switching play on the edge of the penalty area for the onrushing Adam, who screws a hopeless shot well wide right.
34 min: This should have been the second goal for Liverpool. Suarez irritates Jones into giving him the ball down the right. He scoots into space, then whips a delicious low cross straight through the six-yard area. It only needs a nudge to be deflected into the goal, but Maxi can't extend his leg to toe it in. Fantastic play from Suarez.
33 min: A couple of fine efforts by Goldbourne, who first wins a corner off Robinson with a mazy run - the set piece is wasted - and then soon after cuts inside from the right and looks for the top-left corner from 25 yards. It's an ambitious effort, but not a bad one by any means, flying only just wide left and high.
30 min: Maxi stands under a dropping ball, just on the edge of the area. For a second, there are memories of that goal against Mexico at the 2006 World Cup, but instead of welting the ball first time, he waits, lets it drop, and sees his simple hoof fly straight into Coles. "It's a shame that Archibald-Henville's mother didn't marry a fictional glasses leaving cliff disappearing swept out to sea Neighbours character," is Phil Sawyer's set-up line, perhaps the most convoluted in the history of All Amusement. "Then you could have shortened his name to Arch-Bishop. I'll get my coat."
28 min: A beautiful sunset over St James Park. The ball arcs across it, Adam hoicking a hopeless corner over everyone's head from the right.
25 min: Bauza looks to have jiggered his own knee. There was no challenge. He limps off and plonks himself on the bench, to be replaced by Keohane. That's a dreadful stroke of luck for the home side.
23 min: GOAL!!! Exeter City 0-1 Liverpool. Dunne breaks down the right and sends a dangerous cross into the Liverpool box. Reina claims and sends Liverpool upfield on a quick break. Henderson takes the ball wide right, then hangs a dangerous high cross into the area. Krysiak comes out and palms, but can't keep hold of the ball. It falls to Suarez to the left of goal, eight yards out, and the Uruguayan belts it low and hard through a thicket of players and into the net.
22 min: ... and he's not coming back, sent down the tunnel by a stern LFC quack, who is taking no chances. Meireles doesn't look too happy about his match coming to an early end, as he was playing well. Andy Carroll replaces him.
19 min: Meireles goes off for treatment after landing on his left shoulder, the result of a fair 50-50 challenge with Coles ...
16 min: A free kick for Exeter down the left as Flanagan over-enthusiastically bundles Noble to the ground. Shepherd whips it into the area, where Nardiello sends a glancing header straight at Reina. Either side of the keeper and that might easily have gone in, because it was flying at a rare old lick, and Reina would have had little time to react.
15 min: Another corner for Liverpool, another ball by Adam sent fizzing through the area. Archibald-Henville hacks clear.
14 min: Liverpool begin to turn the screw. Henderson and Suarez combine down the right to win a corner. Three in a row follow, each sent into the six-yard box at pace by Adam. Duffy and Coles hold firm in front of Krysiak.
11 min: Liverpool don't need Andy Carroll on the pitch to play it long: twice in less than a minute they nearly release Suarez with raking passes down the channels, but both times the balls are mopped up by a composed Exeter defence. "With LFC starting Suarez, Carragher, Reina, Adam and Henderson it could be argued they have a stronger side appearing at this tricky away trip to Exeter City than Arsenal do at their ho hum trip to Udinese," suggests Stephen Alexander. That reminds me:make sure you keep an eye on events in Italy with Bobbie Smyth's MBM.
8 min: Archibald-Henville looks to release Nardiello down the left, but Skrtel is over quickly to cover. Exeter look lively. Liverpool are beginning to ping it around nicely too, with Adam and especially Meireles showcasing some silky touches.
6 min: That little spurt from Suarez apart, Liverpool haven't put much together yet. They're happy enough to let Exeter get a feel of the ball, passing it around the back but getting no further than the halfway line before launching it into space. "I suspect I'll be the 978th Liverpool fan to bleat this," neighs Joshua Collis, "but why risk Suarez? Surely we should be beating Exeter with the visibly less fragile Andy or Dirk. I don't like to think of the outcome if Luis gets on the wrong end of an agricultural tackle. Imagine the bite he might take out of one their poor lads?" Suarez is many things, but visibly fragile is surely not one of them. The man's a ball of energy. He never stops. I suspect they had to convince him to sit quietly on the team bus on the way down to the game, as opposed to running all the way behind it. I'm guessing he might be quite hard to break.
3 min: Suarez, deemed surplus to requirements for over three quarters of the game against Arsenal, but picked from the start for this test, wins a corner down the right. Adam hits the set piece deep, Skrtel sidefooting clumsily into the side netting from close range. It was a fairly tight angle, but he should have hit the target. Sami Hyypia would have buried that.
And we're off! Exeter get the ball rolling. Jones launches a long one towards Bauza. The ball skims off the striker's head and through to Reina in goal. "Ooh aaar, we are Exeter," chant the crowd, doing the self-deprecating ironic thing.
The teams are out. A fantastic atmosphere at the no-apostrophe St James Park. Exeter in their red and white, Liverpool in their Spinal Tapesque none more black.
Exeter City, in Danny Coles for the suspended Steve Tully, who saw red in their weekend loss to Preston: Krysiak, Jones, Duffy, Archibald-Henville, Coles,
Golbourne, Dunne, Noble, Shephard, Bauza, Nardiello.
Subs: Pidgeley, Logan, Keohane, Frear, Bennett, Nichols, McNish.
Liverpool are currently in advanced negotiations with the 20-year-old Uruguyan's club Nacional over the deal.
The £12m-rated centre-back impressed in Uruguay's Copa America triumph in July and is keen to join international team-mate Luis Suarez at Anfield.
He would be Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish's sixth signing of the summer.
Dalglish is keen to strengthen his defensive resources after Greek defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos left for Wolfsburg on a free transfer and 6ft 6in Coates, 20, is seen not only as another quality addition but also a sound investment for the future.
Manchester City have been strongly linked with Coates but Liverpool are now firm favourites to add Coates to Dalglish's other summer signings Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam, Stewart Dowing and Jose Enrique.
Adding another central defender became Dalglish's top priority after completing deal with Newcastle United for left-back Enrique - and talks are progressing to conclude a move for Coates.
Arsenal finished Saturday's game with 10 men after Frimpong went off. He was booked in the eighth minute for inexplicably getting in Jordan Henderson's face as the Liverpool midfielder went to take a throw-in.
Frimpong's ugly tacke at Lucas Leiva on 70 minutes earned him second yellow.
On came Luis Suárez and Raul Meireles, below, who would be involved in both goals.
